Shopping
by mandaree1
Summary: Nothing ever goes smoothly for the Xiaolin monks. Including shopping trips down to the village.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or Xiaolin Chronicles.**

**Title: Shopping**

**Summary: Nothing ever goes smoothly for the Xiaolin monks. Including shopping trips down to the village.**

**Warnings: Raimundo and Omi centric.**

**...**

Of all the things he planned on doing today, climbing down the mountain to go shopping in the middle of winter was not among them.

Well, if he were being honest with himself, he hadn't planned on doing much of anything today. Meditate, eat, train, maybe save the world, things like that weren't really plans. They were habits, routines he'd slowly gotten accustomed to over his apprenticeship.

He shuddered at the thought, missing the days when schedules and routines didn't exist in his life. He had fun, that was his only plan, for his day and for his life. That just wasn't the case anymore.

The snow was up to just under his knee. Not owning any fitting winter gear, he was forced to trek down the mountain in jeans and a sweatshirt. In the middle of winter. In the snow.

Not that he could really complain. Omi had joined him on his quest, and while the snow came close to his knee, it was almost up to the smaller boys armpits. The dragon of water was practically _swimming_ in the stuff. And he looked ridiculous while doing it.

He'd done a pretty good job of keeping his face in a displeased scowl when the boy had come sprinting down the temple steps in a pair of baggy pants, a sweatshirt, and a wool cap. It wasn't that the look was funny- actually, Omi managed to pull it off rather well-, but he'd become so accustomed to seeing him in his training robes or showdown uniform that it was always an eyebrow-raising experience to see him in much of anything else.

"Did you remember the list?" Raimundo asked as they neared the last step of the winding mountain staircase.

Omi looked mildly offended. "Of course I remembered the list!" Digging around his pants pocket, he yanked out the soggy list. His brow pinched, mouth twitching into an sheepish smile. "Oh. Oops."

"Whatever." He dismissed with a shrug. "You can dry it out, right?"

"Of course!"

The list was dry and mostly legible by the time they reached the small market place. Shoving the list into his sweatshirt pocket, Raimundo shooed the water dragon away to go searching for a place to buy salt for the temple steps before taking his place in line.

The market was a rather small, simple place. You gave one of the many workers your list and the money required to buy the items needed, and they did the rest for you. The village was small enough that the service was easy to do and the line was usually uncrowded.

Key word; Usually.

The line wasn't very long, nor were the lists. The village was that of a farming nature, and most of what they didn't grow and harvest was purchased in large quantities when they made the much longer trip down the remaining foothills to sell their crops at fairs or to the stores spread around the small city. Everything was very close knit, and everyone typically knew everyone else- from what they did for a living right down to what they'd had for breakfast that morning.

Unless you lived up in the temple, that is.

While rather religious and always searching for inner peace, the temple was avoided at all costs, mostly due to the large amounts of thefts and the astounding amount of damage it received year round. The work of the temple was vague at best; and many of the villagers had long turned their backs on Master Fung and his associates. And that was fine, it made things easier all the way around.

Either way, the workers were a rather social lot, especially when they had good-sized crowds to entertain. It would be _hours_ before the list saw the pocket of another pair of pants, the way things were moving.

He sighed, doing his best to ignore his soggy pants and instead focus on the familiar warmth of the sword of the winds pressed against the hollow of his back. One didn't have to sit down to meditate, and since he'd rather not chat with the locals, it was the only option he could come up with.

The line moved at a snails pace. He switched himself on to auto-pilot, letting his feet guide him as he closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of feet crunching on snow and the evenness of his breathing.

He was half-way through the line when a finger prodded his back. His eyes snapped open. Taking a second to reacquaint himself with his surroundings, he turned to his side.

"Hey." The older man, probably another farmer, smiled wide. "You're new in town, right? I haven't seen you around before."

"Actually, I'm just picking up some groceries." He pointed at the workers currently chattering away with a family of what looked to be Amish or Mennonite relations. (Probably Mennonite, now that he thought about it.)

"Oh. So, you don't live here?"

"Nope."

He blinked, staring him down a moment before finally putting two and two together. "Wait a second... you're from the temple, aren't you?"

"Bingo." He turned back around, attempting to end the increasingly awkward conversation.

"Aren't you a little _young_ to be a monk?"

It wasn't working.

"I'm an apprentice." He grit his teeth. He wasn't a monk. He didn't look, act, or speak like a monk. He was _going_ to be a monk, someday in the far away future, but not anytime soon. How the man had gotten 'monk' out of baggy clothes, a mop of brown hair, and his living arrangements was beyond him.

"Huh." He mused, shifting back onto his heels. "I thought the old man up there was dead."

He clenched his teeth harder, hearing the distinct painful sound of grinding bone. The man wasn't doing anyone any harm, he reminded himself. He was just asking a question. "Master Fung likes to stay at the temple. He's not one for large crowds." See? No harm done. He asked, Raimundo answered. It was that simple.

The man grunted to show that he'd heard. "You don't actually _believe_ all that stuff he goes on about, do you?"

Alright, never mind. A lot of harm done.

He didn't answer. Don't let him get to you, he told himself, meditate. Focus on the the snow and your breathing, the warmth of the shen-gong wu against your back. Don't think about the holes being burned into the back of your head. It wouldn't be Raimundo's turn for a good three or four weeks after all this was over with, maybe even a month. He could do this.

"And here I thought you looked like the smart type." He whistled. "Guess you can't judge a book by its cover."

He opened his mouth to retort (which most likely would've been something along the lines of 'leave me alone, jerk.'), only to be saved by the sound of his companions voice.

"Raimundo!" Omi smiled wide, having finally found his companion after close to twenty minutes of searching. "I have found a place that sells salt!"

"What the..." The farmer blinked, turning away from staring at the back of his head to stare at the water dragon. "What's wrong with you?"

"Wrong?" Omi blinked confusedly, smile fading as his cold hands found his pockets. "I do not understand what you are asking. I am in perfect health."

"Your skin's yellow. That's not normal."

"Its not?" He tilted his head to the side. "I have always looked like this."

"Is it genetic?"

"Gene-huh?" His eyebrows pinched.

"Did your folks look like you? Or is it one of those weird disorders that have been floating around?" He stepped back, recoiling as if he were contagious. Raimundo frowned, watching the scene out of the corner of his eye.

Omi didn't seem to realize what the gesture meant. Or, if he did, he didn't show it. "I cannot properly answer your question, but I've always looked like this. I assure you, I am not ill."

"What about the shortness factor? Is _that_ normal?"

"Short?" He glanced down at himself. "I suppose so. Why are you asking?"

"Huh." He shrugged his shoulders, turning to look ahead. "Take's all kinds, I guess..."

Raimundo broke free from the line with a huff, grabbing the smaller boys shoulder to lead him away, head high. "Come'on, Omi. let's go get some salt."

"Oh... Of course." He broke free from the wind dragons grip, quickening his pace to lead the way.

The salt was relatively easy to find and inexpensive. Raimundo bought a smaller bag, small enough for him to carry easily but big enough to clear the steps and part of the porch. The rest they could shovel away later.

"Raimundo?" Omi finally looked up, mouth pointed downwards, eyebrow pinched, his eyes cautious. He almost looked... mature. "Perhaps it is best for us to finish our shopping and head back to the temple?"

"I don't feel like waiting in line for three hours." Actually, he just didn't want to met up with whats-his-face the farmer, but he didn't dare say that aloud. "We can always come back tomorrow."

The thought of going on the hike, not one, but _two_ days in a row made him cringe, but it'd be worth it if he didn't have to meet up with he-who-does-not-have-a-name.

"I know of another place we can get our supplies from. A smaller place. With no lines."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't tell me this earlier... why?"

The boy shrugged, staring ahead. "I had forgotten that you do not know the village as I do. It.. feels like you have been with me for longer than it truly has been."

"Not the first time, huh?"

"Nor is it the last. Come." He waved a small hand, trailing down the street. He followed without comment.

The place in question had turned out to be a small butcher shop on the far edge of the village, so small most passed by without a glance. The man at the counter seemed to know the water dragon well, as well as the supplies he usually needed, and had most of them already packed and stored away. The rest were easy to find in the next-door small supermarket (which was around the same size as the butcher shop), and in the span of an hour they had what he'd been expecting to wait for four to five hours for.

"Omi?"

"Yes?" He managed to ask, hopping up and down to make any noticeable progress through the steadily rising snow.

"Next time, let's just have Dojo take us to the city to go shopping."

"Master Fung-"

"I think Master Fung will understand. Now hurry up, we need to get back before the snows over your head."

**Authors Note: Time period-wise, I can't help but think of this as being pre-being-chosen-as-leader for Rai. It could work afterwards too, but... I don't know, that's just me, I guess. =)**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


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